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Dan at yuuki-cha.com is providing three fascinating organic Japanese teas for this Tea Tasting & Discussion. The featured teas are grown in Miyazaki on the island of Kyushu, one of the traditional pan-firing regions of Japan.

More details soon on each of these rare Japanese teas in the next three posts.

How This Tea Tasting & Discussion Works

Sets of the samples will go to up to three eG members active in the forums: if you have at least 50 posts anywhere in the eG Forums in the past 12 months, OR if you have at least 10 posts in the Coffee & Tea Forum, and are interested in receiving the free samples and participating in this TT&D, please read on (this post and the three following soon) and then PM me.

The free 10 g samples are available to members who 1) will do at least one brewing session with each of the three teas, and 2) will begin to report on their experience within one week of receiving the sample and participate actively in the discussion with the other tasters and other members.

These teas may be brewed 1) in a gaiwan, or preferably 2) in a Japanese side-handle teapot. Please avoid brewing in a mug or western style teapot - it just will not be the same.

Preference will be given to eGullet Society members who have never received tea samples and participated in a Tea Tasting & Discussion, and who have at least 50 posts anywhere in the eG Forums in the past year or 10 in the Coffee & Tea Forum. This preference will last five days, until Midnight, Thursday, September 29, 2011 (US Eastern). If that sounds like you, please PM me ASAP.

As always, everyone who does not receive a sample is welcome and encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Photo used with permission of yuuki-cha.comLooking down on this secluded tea garden surrounded by forest shows several varietals planted at slightly different elevations.

A little background on the two Organic Kamairichi green teas featured in this TT&D. Organic Kamairichi green teas are mostly grown on small family farms in hard to get to areas on the island of Kyushu. Traditional, pan-fired and rare, the two Kamairichi featured are from an area with a reputation for producing the highest quality Kamairichi - Gokase Town in the Nishiusuki District of Miyazaki. (Source: yuukicha.com, more here.)

The first Kamairicha for our TT&D is made from the Sakimidori varietal, which was developed in Miyazaki from a cross between established varietals and native varietals. Source: yuuki-cha.com, more here.

Brewing suggestions to come after announcing the three Society members who will receive free samples of the three teas for this Tea Tasting & Discussion.

This particular organic Kamairicha comes from the same Gokase Town area in Miyazaki as the previous Sakimadori. The tea bushes, however, are grown from the Okumidori varietal and produce small-batch, first harvest leaves that are highly prized. Source: yuuki-cha.com. More here.

Photo used with the permission of yuuki-cha.com.The top of the tea garden at about 700 meters has the most prized tea bushes and produces the highest quality tea leaves. Source: yuuki-cha.com. For more, click here.

Brewing suggestions to come - after the tasters for this TT&D have been announced.

There is one set of free rare Japanese tea samples available to a Society member for this Tea Tasting & Discussion. If you think you may be interested, please read the first post in this topic carefully, and then PM me.

Last night I tried both Kamairichas brewed in parallel in small gaiwans with about 75mL water, 2 grams of tea.

The teas are curly, very different from the needle-like bits of senchas, but a nice deep green appropriate to sencha. The leaves smell sweet and rich.

First infusions about 30 seconds because I checked the water temp just after I poured it, and it was hotter than expected--150 degrees. They're both warm, rich, vegetal (peas and corn and asparagus), but also a little lightly floral. Delicate yellow-green liquors.

2nd infusions about 30 seconds, temp about 150 degrees. A little more bite or astringency in the Sakimidori, a little smoother in the Okumidori. I wasn't sure at first if it might have been because the infusion times were a little off, but the differences were consistent through the next infusions. It's not anything unpleasant in the Sakimidori, more noticing an exceptional smoothness in the Okumidori.

3rd infusion, 45 seconds, 155 degrees: still seeing that same difference, more sharpness in the Sakimidori, more smoothness in the Okumidori.

4th infusion, 1 minute, 160 degrees: these are really, really nice teas. They are not senchas, but feel closer to a sencha in flavor than to a pan-fired chinese green tea: I'm imagining a line from Long Jing/Dragon Well to sencha, and these are probably 3/4 of the way from Long Jing towards sencha, and clearly distinct from both.

5th infusion, 160 degrees, 90 seconds: the differences are lessened again. Still both are sweet and vegetal.

6th infusion, still 160 degrees (got careless with this one and forgot to up the temp; the time also is unclear, but I was aiming for about 2 minutes). They're entirely delicious, and just the most subtle difference between them.

7th infusion: spilled the Sakimidori. Enjoying the 170 degree, 2 minute infusion of the Okumidori a lot. Would have liked to try for another infusion, but I need to let things dry after the spill that splashed lovely green leaves and tea all over the base of the electric kettle.

The leaves remain bright grassy green at the end of the infusions, obviously broken pieces but as I suspected when viewing the curly dried leaves, a bit larger on average than the fragments I find in senchas.

First impression is that these are really lovely teas, and quite worth seeking out in future orders.

I just did a tasting with the Kamairicha Sakimidori. This is the first time I have had any tea like it. I used a small gaiwan which holds about 3oz of water, so I used 3 grams of tea. Overall, I thought the tea was very interesting. The first few infusions were a little challenging with the tannin coming to the front, but the tea develops in a very interesting way.

First infusion, 60C for 60 seconds - The tea was a bright yellow-green, almost neon. A slightly milky texture and light vegetal flavor, most notably, corn with hints of winter greens.

Second infusion, 60C for 45 seconds - Similar color with slightly less green. The milky texture disappears, but the tea still retains some body. It is much more tannic than I expected with just a hint of vegetal flavors and aromas.

Third infusion, 63C for 90 seconds - The color is getting more muted. The tannin is subsiding, but is still the dominate taste. Vegetal flavors coming through more almost reminding me of collards. The body has remained constant.

Fourth infusion, 63C for 90 seconds - The color is mostly yellow and has lightened some. The tannin has balanced with the vegetal flavors and now it really reminds me of winter greens. The body has increased slightly.

Fifth infusion, 63C for 120 seconds - The tannin has nearly subsided which makes the vegetal flavor taste more like a spinach than a collard. The body is slightly heavier than water.

Sixth infusion, 65.5C for 90 seconds - Lighter yellow in color with a milky texture similar to the first steep. A pleasant vegetal flavor follows the milkiness.

Seventh infusion, 65.5C for 120 seconds - Straw yellow with a slightly less milky texture. Not much going on in this cup, just a hint of veg.

Eighth infusion, 65.5 for 120 seconds - Did this just in case and we were happy we did. This was lighter in color, but had a slight citrus kick and had a very subtle sweetness. Very surprising.

Ninth infusion, 71C for 120 seconds - I was hoping to get more of the citrus kick, but ended up with pale tea that had little flavor.

Followed up with the Okumidori tonight. I tried to keep the same quantities and infusion times as with the Sakimidori to get a good comparison. I really liked this tea, extremely smooth and great flavor.

First infusion, 60C for 60 seconds - Bright yellow green with a milky texture. Vegetable heavy (corn) with a slightly sweet backbone, a touch of tannin and a floral nose.

Second infusion, 60C for 45 seconds - Darker green with a stronger tannic flavor. The flavor reminded me of roses and apricots.

Third infusion, 63C for 90 seconds - At this point, I notice that there are many fines in the leaves making it hard to pour without bits falling into the gaiwan. Same color with a nice milky texture. The apricot falls back to a subtle floral flavor.

Fourth infusion, 63C for 90 seconds - More green color and much more smooth than the past infusions. A heavier milky body with a strong apricot flavor.

Thanks for the detailed tasting notes avaserfi and Wholemeal Crank. It may be interesting to see what happens with a second brewing session for the rare Japanese Kamairicha teas...now that your palette has had an introduction to them.

The leaves are curly green twists, with a rich sweet scent, and hints of chocolate

2.3 grams of tea in a small porcelain gaiwan with about 70 mL water, filtered tap water at about 195 degrees

first infusion, 30 seconds
pale yellow liquor, sweet, rich, warm summer meadow, grass just turning golden with caramel sweetness, with just a hint of a more astringent vegetal grassiness that adds interest without being at all unpleasant

2nd infusion, 20 seconds
this time the vegetal/grassy flavors are stronger, a bit in front of the golden meadow.

3rd infusion, 45-60 seconds (lost track of time a bit)
this is the moment the tea should bite back with bitterness if it were so inclined, but it is only a little sharper and more insistently green-like, yet still that clearly oolong backdrop that is so surprising in this Japanese tea.

4th infusion, 1 minute
Ok, a teeny bit of astringent bite-back. Teeny. Bit. But still the vegetal/golden warm meadow is stronger in the overall impression, with some astringent aftertaste.

Several more warm delicious infusions, astringency fading again.

I'm now on the 8th or 9th infusion, and out to 4 minutes, and we're at sweet water. But that was a lot of tea from just a few leaves.

I thought I already posted this, but maybe I was tired and forgot to hit the post button.

Due to work, I won't be able to get another tasting done until Saturday. I hope to do the Oolong Saturday and follow up with brewing both Kamairicha on Sunday. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to tone down the Sakimidori?

I've now enjoyed both the Kamairchas in my Petr Novak kyusu, with an unglazed interior of iron-rich clay. I enjoyed them in my large chawan, I haven't taken a lot of notes, because the teas were so delicious and I find this combination so relaxing that I keep finding myself sipping, slurping, and gulping them and then, they're gone. My notes on the Sakimidori are particularly sparse....

4.2 grams in the kyusu, about 150 mL of filtered tap water (proportions very like my usual sencha brewing in the same kyusu)

30 seconds, 140 degrees: drank this and the next one with such straightforward pleasure that I forgot to take notes. It was not quite sencha, but from my kyusu and chawan and I just unconsciously treated it like my morning sencha. It is delicious.

Another excellent session with the Organic Miyazaki Oolong Tea Kuchinashi by Yuuki-cha. Poised on the borderline between a typical green and a more typical 'green' chinese oolong tea, delicious delicate stuff. There is just a hint of red at the edges of the leaves, proving their 'oolong'-ness.

I'm not finding any metallic taste in the liquor, as brewed tonight in my porcelain korean pot, but a couple of times I've noted what might be a metallic aftertaste. I would never have noticed it without being 'primed' by the prior post.

avaserfi - as Wholemeal Crank pointed out, you may need to tune your brewing of the Sakimidori to fit your tastes, although I would be surprised if you had to brew it as weak as WmC typically brews teas. Also note that she brewed hers in an unglazed clay and drank them in a chawan that I assume has a glazed interior. The unglazed clay most likely impacts the flavor and even the glazed clay may as well.

We have three basic variables to tweak a tea (other than using various unglazed clay teapots): the tea:water ratio, the time and the temp. My preference is to hold the tea:water ratio constant and then one at a time adjust the other two variables. You may find, for example, that simply lowering the temp will take the astringency to a level you enjoy more.

When I am starting out with a new tea, if an infusion is unpleasant, the first thing I do is try a 50% or more dilution of fresh hot water from the kettle--transferring to a larger cup if necessary--to figure out if the problem is the concentration (due to excess of leaf or too long of an infusion) or the temperature. That is often a helpful step before changing temperatures, and doesn't "waste" any of the goodness of the leaf.

When I am starting out with a new tea, if an infusion is unpleasant, the first thing I do is try a 50% or more dilution of fresh hot water from the kettle--transferring to a larger cup if necessary--to figure out if the problem is the concentration (due to excess of leaf or too long of an infusion) or the temperature. That is often a helpful step before changing temperatures, and doesn't "waste" any of the goodness of the leaf.

Yes, I have done that on occasion, too. And our taste buds being so different, that makes even more sense for you. As we have said here before, Wholemeal Crank would run screaming from the room if she drank tea at my preferred leaf:water ratio, and I would wonder why she was drinking warm water if I tried hers.

People vary widely in their tea tastes, and what matters is to tweak the brewing so it pleases you.